hen
the German states were united as the German Empire in 1871, the Prussian
king was crowned as Kaiser Wilhelm I. Under his and chancellor Otto von
Bismarck’s rule, the new nation soon rose to become one of Europe’s greatest
powers. Following the Kaiser’s death in 1888, his grandson ascended the
throne as Wilhelm II. It was now up to him to continue the work that his
grandfather had begun.
Wilhelm professed a deep friendship for Great Britain, where his grandmother
Victoria was nearing the end of her reign. Britain was still the superior
nation, much because of its dominance on the high seas, but the new Kaiser’s
intention was to challenge Great Britain for this position. In order to
do so, he had to match their naval and merchant fleets.
In 1889, Kaiser Wilhelm II attended the Spithead Naval Review, which was
held to celebrate Queen Victoria’s 50th year as sovereign. One of the ships
participating was the brand new White Star liner Teutonic, which
had been fitted as an armed merchant cruiser for the occasion. During an
inspection of the Teutonic, accompanied by the Prince of Wales,
the Kaiser is said to have uttered: ‘We must have some of these!’ Now,
if not before, the Kaiser was determined to challenge Great Britain on
the high seas.
Eventually, Germany’s finest shipping lines began upgrading their fleets
with larger, faster and more luxurious ships. Great Britain was still ahead,
but when

The Vaterland
takes to the water in the yards of Blohm & Voss in April 1913.

Norddeutscher
Lloyd’s express liner Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse entered service
in 1897, she left all competitors behind her. Not only was she largest
ship yet (except for the Great Eastern,) but she was also luxurious
and fast. On her first season, she stole the Blue Riband from Cunard’s
Lucania, averaging some 22.3 knots both eastbound and westbound.
Suddenly, Britain was no longer on top.
What followed was a great competition of one-upmanship to build faster,
larger and more sumptuous ocean liners. These ships were regarded as national
symbols, and it was a matter of national pride and prestige to operate
the world’s finest liner. On the business end, having the superior ship
meant more passengers. These ships were financially viable thanks to the
massive emigration from the old world to the new. Larger ships with higher
capacities were simply more economical for their owners to run. Ironically,
it was the money earned from steerage passengers that went into building
and operating these giant vessels. First class was luxurious and what the
press focussed on, but it was ironically all made possible because of the
emigrants.
Germany’s oceanic might continued with three additions to Norddeutscher
Lloyd’s express service – Kronprinz Wilhelm, Kaiser Wilhelm II
and Kronprinzessin Cecilie. In 1900, the other large shipping company
in Germany, Hamburg-Amerika Line or HAPAG, entered the race with their
ocean greyhound Deutschland. When it came to fast ships, Germany
dominated completely.
However, Great Britain was not out of the race by any means. White Star
Line, which had by now left the quest for speed to others, commissioned
four new liners from 1901 to 1907. With the Celtic, Cedric,
Baltic and Adriatic, they introduced a quartet of unprecedented
size and luxury. Furthermore, the Cunard Line was soon to prove their worth
as well.
In 1907, the world saw the birth of Lusitania and Mauretania.
With this pair, Britain had again surpassed their German rivals. At over
30,000 gross tons, Lusitania and Mauretania became the world’s
largest liners. Powered by revolutionary steam turbines, they soon also
claimed the title of being the world’s fastest. White Star Line responded
a few years later by launching the Olympic, the first liner ever
to exceed 40,000 gross tons. She was to be followed by two sisters, securing
White Star’s position as a premium line.
But once again, Germany managed to rise above the British. HAPAG’s managing
director – Albert Ballin – had already been planning a new trio of ships,
all of which would exceed the 50,000-ton mark. The first of them was launched
from the Bremer-Vulkan yards in Hamburg as the Imperator in May
1912, just a little more than a month after the Titanic’s ill-fated
maiden voyage. By now, the keel for the second ship had already been laid
in the yards of another Hamburg shipbuilder, namely Blohm & Voss.
As work progressed on the second ship, a serious flaw was detected in the
Imperator’s design. She was top-heavy, and had a tendency to roll
and list terribly even in the

Painted in familiar HAPAG
colours, the Vaterland entered service as the largest ship in the
world in 1914.

calmest
waters. To remedy this, her funnels were shortened, heavy material on her
top decks were replaced with lighter ones and concrete was poured into
her bottom. This helped, but the problems would stay with her for the rest
of her career. A costly lesson had been learned, and HAPAG was determined
not to repeat this mistake on the Imperator’s future sisters.
The second liner was ready to be launched on April 3rd, 1913.
Originally, her intended name had been Europa. This had also been
thought of for the first sister, but it had been scrubbed in favour of
the more nationalistic name
Imperator. Once again, such feelings
prevailed. When Prince Rupert of Bavaria christened the new ship, the name
had been changed to Vaterland. An interesting side note is that
the three HAPAG giants were all christened by men, in contrast to the tradition
of the age. Kaiser Wilhelm II had done the honours on the Imperator,
and would ultimately also do so on the third ship, the Bismarck.
Approximately 40,000 spectators had gathered for the event, and they were
now eagerly expecting to see the ship slide down the ways. Careful preparations
had been made, so that nothing would go wrong. The momentum of the ship
had to be halted almost immediately once it was waterborne, or it might
run right into the opposite bank of the River Elbe. Following the ceremony,
the launch gear was triggered, and the enormous hull started to move into
the water. The attached counterweights did their job perfectly, and the
ship came to a halt in the river. Vaterland, the world’s largest
ship yet, was born.
But, the ship was far from finished. Following the successful launch, Vaterland
was towed to her fitting-out basin, where she would be completed with engines,
funnels, masts and interior fittings. There was still a lot of work to
be done before she could enter service for her owners. And in the meantime,
the relations between Great Britain and Germany were growing tense, as
was the overall political situation in Europe.
A little more than a year after her launch, the Vaterland was finally
ready for delivery. On April 29th 1914, she was completed and
handed over to the Hamburg-Amerika Line. The ship had already been vividly
publicised, and the company must have been eager to send her off on her
maiden voyage across the North Atlantic.
The Vaterland was a true wonder ship. Although she was generally
much alike the Imperator, there were several differences between
the two German giants. Vaterland was some 2,000 gross tons larger
and 39 feet longer than her running mate, thereby claiming the honour of
being the world’s largest liner for her self. Unlike the Imperator,
Vaterland had not been fitted with a figurehead. Instead, her bow
was more subtly decorated with a pair of ornate shields and scrollwork.
Internally, there were significant differences as well. On the Vaterland,
Blohm & Voss had divided the funnel uptakes, ran them up the sides
of the superstructure, and rejoined them at the funnel bases.

The ship's impressive
First Class Dining Salon.

This
resulted in large open areas that would otherwise have been occupied by
the uptakes. Thanks to this layout, the interior decorator Charles Mewes
had the opportunity to create large public areas.
Certainly, the ship’s interiors did not disappoint. First Class boasted
public areas such as a Winter Garden, Social Hall, Grill Room and Smoking
Room. There was also an entire row of shops, a travel bureau, bank and
a gymnasium and pool complex. One of the finest rooms on board was the
First Class Dining Salon, which was adorned by a magnificent circular ceiling
mural surrounded by glowing lamps. Vaterland had accommodation for
752 First Class passengers, and the two Imperial Suites and ten Deluxe
Apartments were the finest staterooms on the ship. Each of these had a
bedroom, a sitting room and a marble bath.
Following the Titanic disaster, safety had been in the focus of
shipbuilders, operators and passengers alike. HAPAG had made every effort
to make Vaterland as safe a ship as possible, and these safety features
were widely publicised by the company. The ship was for example equipped
with a full wireless telegraph system, manned for 24 hours a day. Her hull
plating and decking was strengthened, and the fore mast had a large searchlight
to help detect icebergs and other dangerous objects.
And so, on May 14th 1914, the Vaterland finally left
Cuxhaven on her maiden voyage to New York. As the largest ship in the world,
she received much attention. As she enjoyed great success, her owners were
very satisfied with their new flagship. There was one slightly disgracing
incident though, when the ship’s captain attempted to back out from her
Hoboken pier without the assistance of tugboats. To handle such a large
ship in the Hudson River proved quite difficult, and the ship nearly ran
into the piers on the opposite side.
But, this event was of little importance when compared to what was to happen
a few months later. On June 28th 1914, the shots of Sarajevo
became the spark that would soon ignite the First World War. Austria-Hungary’s
crown prince Franz Ferdinand had been murdered, and a month later Austria-Hungary
declared war on Serbia. Through a number of alliances, Germany then declared
war on Russia, France and Belgium. Following their own alliance obligations,
Great Britain soon declared war on Germany.
The European nations had feared this moment for years, and each had plans
ready to quickly requisition merchant liners for war service. But the timing
was terrible for Imperial Germany, and only five ships made it back home
for the necessary conversions. 37 potential ships had been interned in
neutral ports, and one of these was the Vaterland. After having
made only seven crossings, the Vaterland was in Hoboken in the middle
of her fourth North Atlantic roundtrip when the war broke out. On July
31st, she received orders to remain in New York and await further
instructions. Four days later, Great Britain’s declaration of war against
Imperial Germany came, and the

Painted in a 'dazzle'
colour scheme, the former German flagship became the US Navy troopship
Leviathan
in 1917.

Vaterland
was ordered to stay at her Hoboken pier.
What followed was three years in uncertain limbo. Officially, the ship
was still awaiting orders. The crew had all been offered to return to Germany,
but more than half of them had chosen to stay with the ship. As time went
by, they grew accustomed to their new home in New York. Crewmen swam in
the Hudson River in the summer, and ice-skated on it in the winter months.
During the early stage of the war, a pro-German sentiment was widespread
in the United States, and the German-American community used the ship to
arrange banquets, balls and concerts to raise funds for the German Relief
Effort. But as the war raged on, the tendency gradually shifted to an anti-German
opinion, and the Vaterland was declared ‘restricted territory’. Many Americans
saw the ship as an espionage nest, and only a small crew was kept on to
maintain the ship as good as they were able to.
Albert Ballin, the mastermind behind the Hamburg-Amerika Line and its giant
trio, saw the war as insanity. Fearing for his beloved ships, he tried
to have the Vaterland turned into a neutral ship that would carry
relief supplies to Belgium. But his efforts would be in vain. On April
2nd 1917, President Woodrow Wilson delivered his ‘War Message’
in a special session of Congress. It was evident that the US was about
to enter the war against Imperial Germany and her allies. Facing the threat
of seizure, the skeleton crew on board the Vaterland was not ready
to just give away the great ship to a potential enemy. Instead, they sabotaged
the engines and boilers.
Then, on April 6th 1917, Congress overwhelmingly passed the
War Resolution, which brought the United States of America into the Great
War. The Vaterland was seized by American authorities, and the crew
was taken to Ellis Island where they were offered American citizenship.
But with the damaged engines and boilers, the ship had to be repaired in
addition to being converted for war duties. Nevertheless, three months
later she had been transformed into the US Navy transport Leviathan.
Through a quirk of fate, her new task was now to help defeat her one-time
creators.
And so, the
Leviathan entered wartime service on the North Atlantic,
ferrying troops to the European battlefields. Her contribution was of great
importance, carrying a total of more than 100,000 soldiers on 19 voyages.
At one point, she carried 14,416 souls – at the time the largest number
ever to be transported by a single ship. In 1918, she also had the honour
of carrying General Pershing across the North Atlantic.
By now, it was evident which side of the war would be triumphant. Albert
Ballin, who had opposed the war since the beginning, realised that the
end was near and that his company would lose their ships, not least his
giant trio. Devastated, he took an overdose of sleeping pills on November
9th 1918. The next day, he died in a Hamburg

Handed over to the United
States Lines, the Leviathan was reincarnated as the flagship of
the American merchant fleet.

hospital.
As The Great War came to its end, it was now up to the victorious nations
to dictate the terms. For Germany, the Versailles Treaty was a disaster.
Imperial Germany was ordered to surrender nearly their whole merchant fleet,
to be handed over to the victors as war reparations for tonnage sunk by
German forces. While the Imperator was given to Cunard and renamed
Berengaria, the still uncompleted Bismarck was handed over
to White Star Line and was to be completed as the Majestic. The
Leviathan was handed over to the US Shipping Board, but no decision
regarding her future was made. Instead, she was laid up at New York in
September 1919.
She remained tied up at her Hoboken pier for more than two years, while
politicians debated on what should be done with her. In the end, it was
decided to place her with the newly formed United States Lines as the flagship
of the US merchant fleet. In 1921, she was sent to Newport News to be converted
for passenger service again.
The contract of supervising the massive task was given to the recently
formed Gibbs Brothers Inc, headed by naval architect William Francis Gibbs
who 30 years later would become famous for designing the speed queen United
States. Gibbs’ first order of agenda was to obtain the ship’s blueprints,
which was needed to do the conversion. But, when he contacted the German
builders, they demanded $1,000,000 for them, since the plans had not been
included in the Versailles Treaty. Unwilling to pay such a sum, Gibbs instead
went back to Newport News and started the immense task of taking careful
measurements of the entire ship, in order to create his own set of blueprints.
But this was not the only challenge that had to be overcome. The Leviathan’s
war service had taken its toll, and her layout had to be virtually redesigned.
Close to 150 draftsmen and thousands of workers were put to the test, setting
out to bring the ship back to her pre-war splendour. The original electrical
wiring was torn out and replaced completely, and much of the plumbing on
board had to be redone. Steel was reinforced, the engines were restored
and the passenger areas were virtually rebuilt from scratch. Following
the $8,000,000 refit, the Leviathan emerged as a new vessel in 1923.
On June 19th 1923, the Leviathan set out on her sea trials
for her new owners. These were a success, with the ship reaching an impressive
average speed of 27.48 knots. She had also been remeasured at 59,956 gross
tons, but it should be noted that these figures had been calculated after
American standards, which differed a great deal from those applied to British
ships. But in these days when being the largest, fastest or most luxurious
was so important to attract passengers, the shipping

The Leviathan's
Night Club, done in a 'twenties modern style.

companies
needed all the publicity they could get. So, although White Star's Majestic
was in reality a larger ship than the Leviathan, United States Lines
would often market her as ‘the largest ship in the world’, based on her
American gross tonnage.
And so, the new flagship of the American Merchant Marine set out on her
second maiden voyage on July 4th 1923, leaving New York bound
for Southampton. With great margin, she was the largest merchant ship ever
to fly the Stars and Stripes. She quickly earned great popularity, especially
among American tourists, who wanted to sail on an American liner. In this
aspect, being the only large American ship certainly was an advantage.
But, the lack of a similar running mate resulted in large gaps in her sailing
schedules. Furthermore, when the US enacted more restrictive immigration
laws, the giant pre-war liners became somewhat of anachronisms.
Another problem was the American prohibition of alcohol. As an American-registered
vessel, the Leviathan counted as an extension of US territory, and
as a result prohibition applied on board the ship as well. Being a ‘dry
ship’ certainly held the Leviathan back in the 1920s.
In addition, the service on board was reputed poor and not equivalent to
that on British or French liners. True or false, such common believes did
not help the Leviathan’s reputation.
Nevertheless, she retained a loyal following, and the official figures
indeed seemed impressive. During 1926, she averaged 1,300 passengers per
voyage, making her the second most travelled-on liner on the Atlantic that
year, but 1,300 people were not that much on a ship with a capacity of nearly 3,000
souls. She did show increases in her passenger records every year from 1923-1927,
but these were lean times for liners, and she was losing money for her
owners. Being popular was not the same as being profitable. Leviathan
was an expensive ship to operate, with high American wages plus union and fuel costs.
From time to time, the ship had to rely on so-called temporary labour,
college students who would sign on to get to Europe and then jump ship
when they got there. Or they would work summers only, for a labour-intensive
tenure.
Later in the ‘20s, the prohibition laws were somewhat eased
and the Leviathan was given permission to serve alcoholic beverages
once she was outside US waters. This opened up opportunities for other
duties, and the company soon started sending the Leviathan on ‘booze
cruises’ to nowhere, trips without destination with the only purpose of
giving people the opportunity to consume alcohol legally.
But the financial situation at the time was getting worse and worse, culminating
in The Great Crash in 1929. Very few could still afford an ocean voyage,
and the

With nearly the whole
of her stern dismantled, the Leviathan is seen here during her scrapping
at Rosyth.

Leviathan
started to slip into the red. In 1931, her tonnage was reduced to an incredible, and often questioned,
48,932 gross tons. This was done through manipulation of measuring regulations,
in order to save money on harbour dues which was paid according to size.
To many, this was a sign of the ship’s impending end, and in 1932 she was
laid up. Although well known and popular, she had been one of the least
successful liners during the 1920s. In 1934, when the economics
had recuperated slightly, the Leviathan made four more voyages to
Southampton, but was again laid up at New York in September that year.
In her later years, a number of structural weaknesses, for instance a series
of cracks in her superstructure, had been detected.
Leviathan remained laid up at New York until December 1937, when she
was sold for scrap to Metal Industries Ltd., Rosyth and T. W. Ward, Sheffield.
She remained in New York over the New Years, but left for Rosyth under
her own power on January 26th 1938. She arrived there on February
14th, and the work on breaking her up would soon commence. It
is interesting to ponder over what might have been, had she survived just
a year longer. With her enormous capacity and high speed, she would have
made a valuable troop transport during World War II. But, it was not to
be, and the largest American merchant ship ever met her end in the scrap
yard instead.